When Jackals Storm the Walls (The Song of the Shattered Sands #5)

4.2 / 5

The penultimate entry in the Song of the Shattered Sands takes a while, but manages to impress just as much as its predecessors. The same great world-building, character development, attention to detail and structure are just some of the reasons Ive made it so far into this series, and many of the reasons Im looking forward to its conclusion with the usual amount of hope, anticipation and anxiety. As much as I love a good endingIll be sad to bid these characters farewell. But every story needs an end. Lets just not rush to it too quickly, eh?

The rule of the Kings has been broken. The Blood Queen Meryam nows rules Sharakai, along with the descendants of the Kings. The remnants of the initial Twelve have been scattered to the winds. Ihsanmaimed and scarrednow wanders the Shangazi alone, searching for clues to the gods plans for the desert. As his hopes of solo rule have faded so too have his chances of survival. But there is still a slim hope: for Ihsan, and for the world itself.

Brama and Davud have staved off death, at least thus far. All but alone and abandoned, they must each rely on their single ally. But where Davuds is the beautiful, formerly blood mage Esmeraewith whom he has fallen in loveBramas is the dangerous ehrekh, Rmayesh, with who he now shares a body. With no help coming, and nothing but doom before them, both will find themselves attracted to the same mystery. One that may determine the fate of the desert.

With the help of Sehid-Alazthe thirteenth kingeda has broken the asirims curse. But it comes at a great cost, as both the goddesses Nalamae and Yerinde lie dead, slain at each others hand. But where Yerinde lies still, Nalamae is fated to be reborn, though where and when eda does not know. And so she turns her attention to Sharakai, hoping to find some clue to the goddesses whereabouts in the city.

But others are searching for the desert goddess as well. And when eda discovers the reason, it will force her to make a difficult choice: work with the former Kings, or risk Sharakais ultimate destruction. A desperate plan is hatched, one that may yet save the city. For while the city stands, the Shangazi rests easy, but if the sands consume it, then they may consume the world as well.

All in all, I enjoyed my time reading When Jackals Storm the walls. As always, Beaulieus world-building is strong; possibly his greatest strength. The characters arent far behindeach continuing their development to a satisfying degree by books end. Brama and Davud especially stole the show, though Meryam impressed as well. There are always exceptions to this rule, with two of note: eda and Ramahd. edas development was there, but felt a little diminished as shes really the face of this franchise. While her love life seems to have recovered (more, at least) from where its been in recent books, her transition from warrior to leader seems to have hit a snag. Not that she regressed, more that it was stagnant. Ramahd, for his part, was stagnant. The little we see of him in WJStW, shes chasing Meryam, still trying to bring her to justice. Late, late in the book, he shows some of the development weve seen in past books, but for the most part hes a mindless, faceless drone

Im always skeptical of the choice to add a new character so late in the series. While Meryam is by no means newshes been around as a significant character since the first bookshe hasnt had her own POV chapters until now. And when one gives a character their own POV, the author typically wants to delve into their characters backstory. This can cause the pace to slow or become uneven, especially in the later books where most other characters have been fleshed out. Meryam is no different. But Beaulieu has attempted to mitigate this by putting only brief flashbacks in each POV chapter, disguised as a dream sequence. They dont take up as much time, and dont screw with the pacing as much either. Willem and Hamid show up not nearly as often as the Queen, and mostly just to flesh out the story. Neither feature a heavy backstory, nor much in the way of personality. While theyre mildly interesting, it doesnt seem like either is around to stay. Or are they?

That said, the pacing of When Jackals Storm the Walls is already slow. Honestly, I found it slower to build than most of the predecessorssince roughly Book #2. This slow build clashes dramatically with the sense of urgency exhibited by most characters throughout the book, and makes for the oddest feeling. Its like the army adage hurry up and wait. Its legitimately strange to see the characters of a book talking with urgency, but then strolling around like they have all the time in the world.

Through most of the story, I was interested, if not overly so. While a bit slow, there is a good mystery to the bookinvolving Sharakai, the gods, Nalamae, the Kings, the desert itself. When the mystery begins to unfold, it sells vast on a vast scale; one where the gods move humanity and demons alike around like pieces on a chessboard. The moment where I put everything together I wondered if Beaulieu had this in mind all alongbecause it is brilliant. But it takes some patience to make it this far. Around the 55% mark, the pace began to catch up to the urgency, and the tale began to drink me in. The conclusion, which begins to build after around the 70% mark or so, was truly an epic oneone of the most epic and jaw-dropping conclusions Ive ever witnessed. It wasnt so much that I was blindsided, or didnt see it coming, it was just the execution was spot-on; the description so vivid and detailed that I felt like Id fallen into the book and was witnessing it happen myself.

TL;DR

Addition of new characters, new faces, and new POV chapters hurts the pacing, but ultimately helps tell the story. With everything happening, When Jackals Storm the Walls lays down a level of urgency that the text just doesnt live up to, at least for a while. But throughout a mystery is unfolding, one written on the level of the gods themselves. Its truly impressive once you figure it out, especially if one manages it before the story hands it to you. When the pacing finally does catch up with the urgency, it sets off a conclusion that is epic even in the most epic standards. So detailed is the writing, so vivid the description that I felt like Id fallen into the bookand was witnessing events firsthand. The fifth book of the Shattered Sands sets up whats certain to be an even more epic conclusion, if such a thing is possible. After the ending sequence of this one, I cannot wait for the next!